Jet lagged
by Hobohunter
Summary: Leon and Claire were off working to help the world against bio-terrorism, but it didn't hurt to call one another now and again even if they weren't even in the same country-let alone the same time zone. Light LeonClaire. One shot. Complete.


The government agent took one last sip of his scotch and got up from his seat slowly. He laid a fifty on the worn tabletop, whoever the waitress was, which he couldn't remember, would have a good tip tonight. He reached for the jacket that was draped across the back of his chair, it was a little chilly out for the middle of March; luckily his hotel wasn't that far away.

The streets were damp from a late rain, the freshness seemed to almost take away the smell of city-life. If only it would wash away all of the things he wished he never had to do. Being a Government agent had its ups and downs, he didn't like having to get his hands dirty- but that was what an agent did. If only he could be the naive rookie again, no cares in the world except who was going to be his next girlfriend or a drunk roaming around Raccoon City; but what he got was multiple women giving him the short end of the stick and flesh eating zombies.

Couldn't forget the zombies, or the women for that matter.

Ada was mysterious, she intrigued him- made him give way into curiosity about the spy. Ashley was simply out of the question- she was the President's daughter. Angela- well he honestly never gave her his number to meet up with him later. Then there was Claire Redfield.

She always got a hold of his number even if he just bought a new phone that day, maybe Hunnigan was giving it to her or Chris even. It's not like he never wanted her to not have it, having him as a contact was very useful especially during emergencies. Leon normally got little texts from the redhead saying that she was in town and that it would be nice to have drinks or dinner together. He'd go, yes, but it was strictly a friends-only event, which he didn't mind, it gave him some outside human contact besides Ashley talking his head off. Also he always liked Claire, except when she'd scream from mutant bugs or frogs, which was really annoying at the moment, but it gave her a feminine side too- until she blew a shot gun round through it's skull, that was very un-lady-like; but it always brought a smirk to his lips.

The redhead had a bubbly personality, which was the major opposite of himself. Claire would always tell him how much he had changed over the years, but the most apparent thing wasn't looks, it was personality.

Was it Ada's fault that he became so cold and bitter? He had changed slowly after raccoon, but after Spain he changed drastically, Claire even said that he had looked different to her. But why was it Leon always changing? The only thing to change for Claire was her hair color, and Ada, well, she didn't change one bit. Claire was always that selfless girl that would put her life on the line to save another.

His phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out before he walked into his room, it was from Claire.

Speak of the Devil.

'Good Morning'

Leon looked at the watch that was strapped on his wrist and he read the time, it was past midnight.

His thumb moved around the letters on the screen and replied,

'It's night still'

He pulled his key out of his pocket and slid it through the electronic lock on the door before he let himself in. Leon shrugged off his jacket and threw it on the empty table that was in the corner of the room before he sat on the end of the bed to untie his shoes.

Claire texted him back,

'It's morning in England :)'

Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose and stretched before he replied,

'Business?'

He kicked off his shoes and let them fall against the floor, not caring where they fell. The agent shifted and popped his back, stretching his muscles before he heard his phone receive another message.

'When is it ever for pleasure? ;)'

A small smirk crept up on the corner of Leon's face before started to reply,

'Sounds boring then.'

He moved up onto the bed and rested his back against the headboard, trying to get comfortable as he waited for Claire's next message, he was actually looking forward to it.

'Very boring. But I should be back stateside tomorrow evening.'

Leon was deciding to say back, thoughts were running through his head, did he want to take her out for dinner? Did they want to go to a movie? (Even though he had no idea what was even out) Drinks? Something else?

He felt his phone buzz a few times before it started to ring, there was Claire's name coming up with 'Made In Heaven' playing along with it. Leon started at the phone for a few seconds before he decided to answer it.

"Kennedy here." he winced. That was what he'd say when he'd answer the phone for work. It had been a long time before he had received a phone call from someone that wasn't business.

A small chuckle came from the other end of the line, he could picture Claire's quirky lips pouting before she'd put on a gorgeous smile.

"Well hello there Mr. Kennedy, how goes it?"

"Not much Redfield, how's England?"

He heard a laugh, before she cleared her throat and spoke again, "Oh it's alright. But apparently it sounds boring to you, you must be on a super classy mission secret agent man."

"Not really, just hanging out in my hotel room, bored out of my mind."

He looked over at the clock and noticed that it was almost one a.m., and yet he was completely awake.

"Ah I see, we're both bored then. And I get to be even more bored later on an airplane bound for Chicago."

"Chicago? I thought you lived in New York?"

Leon could hear that perfect chuckle and a sigh before Claire replied, "Yes, well no rest for the wicked I'm afraid."

"How... How have you been?" he sounded serious, concerned about his friend.

"Oh I've been alright, you know, work."

A small grunt came from Leon before he sighed loudly, "Yeah. Work. Can't save people if you don't work."

"You know, you work too much. Have a little fun, relax, get a cute girlfriend that'll bake you cookies that you'll never eat."

"Cookies? Bleh." he winced a little, thinking of sugar always made his teeth hurt.

"You're insane. We can't be friends anymore, I've tried to hold back but it's not possible. How can a man not like cookies?"

"They just rot your teeth and make you fat."

A gasp came from the other line, picturing Claire pinching her side in shock.

"I'm not fat, and I also have great teeth."

"I haven't seen you in months, how do I know that you don't have trucker hips and no teeth?"

A loud laugh emitted from Claire before she replied, "How do I know you're not all skin and bone, wasting away to nothing without me because you won't eat a damn brownie? And all that smoking you do now, are you on a super model diet?"

"Brownies are the worst. Just all chocolate and gross. Cigarettes are much much better for my figure, much sexier."

"I'm going to ignore you for saying that- oh by the way, I said before I'm going to be back tomorrow."

"In Chicago I recall," replied the agent with a grin. He couldn't remember the last time he made facial expressions without talking to Claire.

"Yes, yes, Chicago. I'm going to be picking up Barry's daughter Moira and we're heading to D.C. after that."

"D.C. huh? Well I know a certain Government agent that lives there and could pick you up at the airport."

"Oh? Would you even want to be seen with me and my huge 'trucker hips and no teeth'?" he played off a little southern twang as she spoke between the chuckles that she made.

"I can be very selfless sometimes."

"You're an ass."

"You love it."

There was dead silence on other line before Claire cleared her throat and smiled, "So you'll pick me up at the airport?"

Leon shifted on the bed and tried to stifle out a yawn as he stretched, "Sure, what time?"

"Eight-ish I think? Barry is picking up Moria himself so it just leaves me."

"Eight-ish, huh? Barry won't take you?"

"Well," he could picture Claire's smile against the phone, "You did offer me a helicopter ride last time, so I guess you owe me one, right?"

"I seem to recall you turning down my offer."

"I seem to recall seeing you give mouth-to-mouth to what's her name now didn't I?"

Silence again strained the line.

"I... Just ran into Ada about an hour ago."

More silence before he could hear a loud sigh come from the redhead.

"Oh? How is she? What did she do this time? Apparently not cut your heart out and serve it on a platter to the highest bidder."

It was a cold sharp reply, causing Leon to wince a little from the bite.

"No, thankfully she did not do that. I told her I didn't want to see her."

"I see. Sorry, you know how I get when I hear about that woman."

Ever since Raccoon City Claire has had a hatred for the woman in red almost as bad as with Umbrella. She used both of them to escape the Umbrella labs with a sample of the G-Virus from Sherry's locket. And not to mention she just stole samples from Leon not so long ago at the Spain and Salv Republic incidents.

"I know."

Silence seemed to pass between them more before Claire chuckled to relieve the tension, "Come and pick me up tomorrow then. We can have dinner ok? I want dessert of course and you're going to treat your friend remember?"

Leon smiled and nodded with his face against his phone before he replied, "You got it, Red."

"And one more thing,"

"Yes?"

"Good night Leon."

"Good morning Claire."

After that the call ending and Leon pulled the phone away from his face. He didn't realize how long he was on before he noticed the sweat on his cheek from the heat of the screen. He glanced at the clock and sighed, it was almost 2 a.m., it must have been the dead air between the two that ate up the time, or it was just talking to her.

A few minutes later Leon received a another text from Claire and realized that it was a picture message. He opened it up and laughed with a big smile on his face. It was of Claire standing in front of a bathroom mirror, still in her pajamas and putting a pouty face on as she was grabbing her hip, it had a caption: 'Maybe I should skip dessert, I think these hips don't fit in the airplane seat later.'

Leon rubbed his eyes and yawned before he replied, 'You know I prefer curvy girls, Red. Don't change a thing. ;)'

The agent started to get situated for bed and chuckled when he got another text, 'Did you just seriously send a winky-face at me? What is the world coming to? And you better not be a stick when I see you tomorrow, or I'm going to shove forty-five cupcakes down your throat.'

'Oh, kinky? ;)'

He waited for a reply but it never came. Leon closed his eyes and pictured Claire's cheeks as red as her hair after she'd read his text. He started to drift to sleep and thoughts about the younger Redfield put his mind at ease, hopefully the thought of him did the same for her.

Leon was looking forward to tomorrow, everything was going to change.


End file.
